[Clever Title for Introductory Thread Goes Here]

Hey, all. I'm Helen.

Weird calling myself that. Wow. I'm not really used to it.

I feel like I should post some personal details or something, kinda get the posting ball rolling, but I'm not sure what is or is not appropriate. A big ol' list of identities doesn't seem super helpful, buuuut... well, may as well.

I'm genderfluid. Might actually just be a transwoman that doesn't have a lot of dysphoria about having a penis so much as about not having breasts or a vagina. I've got ADHD, and am the child of an alcoholic. Been in abusive relationships in the past, glad to be in a much better one now, although I'm still working through shit from before. Poly, if it matters any. Pretty sure I'm not autistic, though I've got a noise sensitivity that has fooled people before. Um.

That's all kinda dull, though? I dunno. Trying to become a better person in ways that will allow me to help others to do the same. I really like writing and am procrastinating on doing some of it right now because I want to be writing something other than the thing that I should be. Fanfic is just too dang tempting.

I like things! Ancient cultures (though I know much less than I'd like about many, working to correct that), board games, books, etc. Not a huuuge fan of live action TV when I'm not with people (feels a bit draining, like going to a party alone).

Welp. There are a bunch of words that fail to give me the proper introduction I'd maybe hope for, but hey! First impressions might count for a lot, but they aren't actually everything, right?

Hope y'all are doin' okay, and that if you're not you're able to get help.

As a wise man once said, "I'm pullin' for ya. We're all in this together. [...] ...keep your stick on the ice."

 

HELLO.

I feel you on the "should be writing, look at me not writing" front. That's pretty much my entire lifestyle lately.

 

Ah, yeah, didn't say anything I didn't want to. Wasn't sure if going "here are all these personal details" was a bit silly or not, but I'm not too concerned. I figure I'm doing well enough mentally and am... well, not 100% anonymous, I'm sure, but safe enough. Figured I might as well make a post so there'd be one that wasn't not yours. :P

But those guidelines seem pretty reasonable overall, I think?

Hi!

I'm finding more it's "Should be writing the thing I might be able to actually publish someday, or one of these two Quests I've been running, look at me starting this new fanfic" for me right now, although that's... entirely just since my meds got adjusted, really, and I've had the ability to focus on writing as much as my drive to write dictates.

Just... not focusing on the right thing instead of the exciting one that has lots more potential for immediate feedback. Whoops!

 

Hey, you're doing better than I am, I'm supposed to be writing fanfic at this stage, and here I am, totally not doing that.

(what fandoms)

 

Uhhh... Hmm. Doing it under a different name, so a bit hesitant because two of them would be pretty dang distinctive and an obvious link.

The one that isn't readily me is a Worm fanfic (because there are so many of those and though there are some elements of other things... that's not uncommon either, though I'm not going to specify which). Overall, other than Worm (which, heads up, is a great superpowered people story but if you can be triggered by basically anything the author warns against reading it), I'd put myself in the following fandoms that might be big enough to be recognizable: One Piece, Homestuck, Harry Potter, Ranma 1/2, One-Punch Man, Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Homer, EARTHBOUND and Mother 3, Final Fantasy 3/6, Chrono Trigger, Avengers (vaguely), versions of Batman where Robin exists, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-Kun, Ouran, Avatar (the cartoons), Gravity Falls...

I know there's more, but I'm just looking at that going "No, I liked most of things before Tumblr introduced me to them, honest!"

I like a lot of things in a non-fandomy way, too... honestly, the lack of accessible fandom for many things is the only reason I'm not there fanning it up.

 

Ugh, I know that feeling, Small Fandom Problems. I don't particularly care if I'm recognized or not, but my current primary fandom is an older JRPG and so the number of actively updating fics of any quality is like, three. (I'm probably best known for being really aggressive about a rarepair in one of my other fandoms, though. Because I'm really aggressive about it.)

I'm only really familiar with the Really Big fandoms in that list, though I recognize most of them. Listing fandoms on demand is hard; I used to have a readily copy-pastable list, but when tumblr had that "editing your theme causes your sidebar to disappear" glitch, it got eaten, so I'll TLDr by saying "mostly slightly-off-maintstream anime and very-mainstream-series JRPGs, and then Homestuck and RWBY."

And I feel you on the lack of accessibility - it's a Problem for me with video games because I can't concentrate on walkthroughs/LPs to any degree. They never do seem to have subtitles, or even clear views of the automatic subtitles in lots of games. (Also this reminds me of something else I should add to my sperglist in my intro, so thanks.)

 

Prooobably. There've been a bunch that went past the NSFW guidelines there, and also just issues with people using each fic's own thread as a general discussion for the series, especially some of the same parts over and over. That, combined with how many popped up all of a sudden and keep popping up... yeah. There's been some 'fun' there. Kinda prefer the splinter site of Sufficient Velocity, in part because things are slightly quieter there and there's been less need for that kinda mod action.

EDIT: It occurs to me that this is also just a Thing with Spacebattles. Mod drama and excitement isn't as bad there as it has been elsewhere, but it exists, and can be a bit much at times.

Pretty sure I stopped actively shipping stuff because I could never find fic for most of my pairings and just had to make myself let go so I didn't go mad.

RPGs got me into fanfiction, though! Old Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy fic on... rpgclassics, I think it was? Some Metroid, Mega Man, and Zelda stuff, too. That was the hook that nabbed me!

Heh. Fair. And that reminds me, I forgot RWBY, Mega Man, and Red Dwarf! Probably more, still...

(I'm not active in most of my fandoms, though, either. I just lurk a lot.)

That's a very good point. I was more meaning it in the "I can't locate or find out how to access the fandoms I CAN locate" sense, buuut yeah, especially with video games time is just such a huge thing, too. I'm not in the Dragon Age fandom (picking a relatively random example) because I just don't have the willingness to commit the time necessary to seem worth it, for instance.

...even if there are other games I'll play way more because they don't require the time investment so it's easier to just pick them up and go.

 

An honest and fair way to go about it, really. All you really need to know about my shipping habits is that a friend of mine did a "give me a phrase and I'll make an 8tracks playlist" meme one, and I submitted "Everyone Ships It Wrong." I get really puffy about shipping in a completely different way from the cliches of fandom.

Ha, I'm one of the Naruto Generation, pretty sure that was the first fandom I wrote for. That or Kingdom Hearts (which I still do meta for once in a new moon). Maybe a crossover of the two. Look, it was almost ten years ago, I don't remember and I don't really want to.

(Most of my fandoming is roleplaying and meta-ing, though I have one liveblog I should get back to and obviously the one fic that I'm Not Writing right now. Talk AUs to me. I know the oath of the lurker well, though.)

My major access issue with a lot of fandom is money, not time, though there's also some level of Gameplay Skill barrier with a lot of them for me. (I'm crap at timing anything, which makes shooters and platformers both Really Hard, and I can't wrap my brain around how PC game movement is Supposed to Work.)

As far as actually accessing the fandom, though, I've never really had too much issue? But that might be because most of my fandoms have been because friends rec'd it to me, and so I tend to just piggyback into their fandom circles if it catches my interest enough, or it's a really new fandom (RWBY as an example, I discovered it at the time of the second trailer) and so I kind of just insert myself from the beginning and lurk the fringes.

 

I so get you on the "should be writing" thing ...

 

It's so weird seeing how fandoms have changed. It used to be that AUs weren't super common, in my experience (outside the Highschool AU genre), but now either the term has grown to be an umbrella phrase for more things or they've just gotten WAY more popular.

I HAVE NEVER STOLEN MEDIA OR EMULATED GAMES DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS, THAT IS PREPOSTEROUS. AHAHA.

For me, strangely, gaming is easier than a lot of other things. Like I can play Xcom and let my brain turn off and relax (outside of particularly frustrating moments) in a way I just... can't with television. I'm not always great at them (although I'm probably better than I think of myself as being, going on general trends), but they're just... relaxing.

I get into a lot of things from a friend's direct recommendation, more. But if there's not an English fandom, there's not a lot I can really do to find or participate in it easily.

Ranma definitely grew my 'ficcing knowledge. I started with the video games, got into Ranma in... Junior High, I think, because a friend had some of it, and then read all the fics I could, spoiling myself on pretty much everything without even considering not doing that. It made for some confusing stuff, I didn't even know Ryouga had a Jusenkyo curse when I started reading fanfic, I'd just seen the first little bit.

Aaand look, here I am again, because I can't decide what kind of tree I want and am probably settling on redwood as they grow fairly big and fit the general look, so I guess I have decided now and can get back to writing.

In a bit.